Note: Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System Administrator James Hacking was forced to resign from the pension for authorizing illegal secret pay raises, after the following article was published.

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Ryan Parham, chief investment officer, ranks first, with a base salary of $268,000 a year. James Hacking, administrator, is third, with a base salary of $234,000 a year.

By contrast, Gary Dokes, CIO of the much larger $33.4 billion Arizona State Retirement System, earns $194,250, the 14th highest in a state employee database.

Mr. Hacking, in an e-mailed response to questions from Pensions & Investments, said Mr. Parham’s salary is below those of other top investment professionals at public pension plans. He said $270,300 was the median base salary paid to top investment professionals at 55 public pension funds participating in a 2013 survey by McLagan, a London-based compensation consultant.

Mr. Parham is scheduled to receive a $75,000 retention bonus on Sept. 19, following completion of his current employment term. That would bring his total compensation to $343,000. Mr. Parham received more than $514,646 in bonuses in the five years ended June 30, 2012, PSPRS documents show. PSPRS canceled bonus payments in 2013.

Mr. Dokes hasn’t received any bonuses because there hasn’t been such a program for investment staff, said David Cannella, a spokesman for the Phoenix-based Arizona State Retirement System. He noted a bonus program that will go into effect after June 30 for investment staff could make Mr. Canella eligible for a bonus for the first time.

Paul Matson, the Arizona State Retirement System’s CEO, earns base pay of $232,451; he is in fourth place in the state employee database, behind Mr. Hacking. He has received a $60,000 bonus in each of the past two years, Mr. Cannella said.

The base salary information comes from the Arizona State Department of Administration. It excludes university employees.

This article originally appeared in the June 23, 2014 print issue as, “PSPRS salaries rank high among all state workers”.

One response to “PSPRS’ CIO Ryan Parham – One Of Highest Paid In State. Keeper of More Secrets?”

Public Safety employees all over Arizona loyally serve and, for a number of years many have had their pay frozen while working ever harder because people leaving have not been replaced. No matter how hard they work or how excellent the work product, it goes unrewarded because of a lack of resource.

It is therefore especially upsetting to discover the management of our retirement system has been rewarding itself with outrageous salaries, bonuses and perks while the system flounders with costs rising and assets plummeting. When they are not getting the job done regardless of the reason, then big bonuses are just theft.

If the PSPRS management were doing its job in an excellent manner and the health and value of the system reflected it, then reasonable reward should be given…but even then only if the system could afford it. It certainly works that way for the Public Safety employees and should be the same for the Retirement system management.